Sorry, Jared, Subway food can be just as bad for you as McDonald’s

Yes, sure, fine, it is possible to get a somewhat healthy sandwich at Subway. It will have watery, shredded lettuce on it, and peppers, and maybe avocado. It will taste like nothing. And let’s be real: That is not what people are ordering at Subway. They are ordering the foot-long Italian sub, with its layers of (relatively) delicious, fatty meat. Or they are ordering the Big Philly Cheesesteak.

The result of these choices is that, despite Subway’s enormously successful advertising campaign pitching it as a healthy fast-food alternative, the chain is feeding just as much crappy food to people as McDonald’s is. Or, as the New York Daily News reports:

“We found that there was no statistically significant difference between the two restaurants, and that participants ate too many calories at both,” public health scholar Dr. Lenard Lesser, who led the study, said in a statement.

The study sent 100 kids to McDonald’s and to Subway and tracked what they bought. The calorie count for the McDonald’s meals came in ever so slightly higher — but not enough to make a real difference. And, even without a side of salty, salty fries, Subway meals had higher sodium content.

Moral of the story: If you want to eat healthy, it doesn’t matter which chain restaurant you go to. What matters is what you order, and you’re not that likely to order the gross salad when the salty, fatty alternative is right there.